The Release Point
by tempermental artist
Summary: Kizumi, the waitress of a local cafe meets Gaara, and slowly develops a friendship with him, but when he asks her to help set free Shukaku she's in for a lot more than she expected. ITACHI'S HERE TOO!
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was a Saturday morning when he walked in and changed my life forever. The sun was shining, my hair was pulled back, and my pen was flying over the pad in my hand, taking down orders. The kitchen was running full-steam, and the tips last night had been great… It was a Saturday morning when Gaara walked in.


	2. Enter: Mysterious Visitor

Chapter 1:

The bell jingled and a red-haired boy carrying a gourd on his back walked in. The café was almost empty, but he took a seat in a corner, looking out the window.

He seemed to be a little taller than me, with red hair to match my own. It looked like we were the same age too.

I walked up to him, "Hi, I'm Kizumi! What can I get you?"

He looked at me. Perhaps he didn't speak the language?

"Umm… can I get you any-"

"No." he said simply and turned his attention to the window again.

It went like that for three days. He'd come in at opening, and sit there until closing, not ordering anything; and then doing it all over again the next day.

"Here," I said as I was closing up the café.

I handed him a plate of freshly made toast.

He looked at it, "What is it?"

"It's toast," I said wiping down the table next to him, "it happens to be cinnamon-raisin too."

"Why did you give it to me?" he asked.

"Because for the past three days," I said straightening the salt and pepper shakers, and then standing upright, "you have come in here and have ordered nothing; and seeing as how you stay here all day and nothing else is open later or earlier than us, it means you haven't eaten." I looked right back at him and smiled, "C'mon, everyone likes toast!"

"I've never had it." He told me.

"What a pity." I commented, then asked, "Didn't your mother ever make it for you after a really bad day?"

"My mother's dead."

"Oh," I said caught off guard by this statement, "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be." He snapped, and then told me, "Leave me alone."

"Fine." I shrugged and continued with the cleaning.

After a few minutes he got up and left, having gotten his wish of being left alone. I glanced over at the plate and noticed a chunk had been bitten off the toast and I smiled, and couldn't help but think that there was something different about this boy… something that was unique… something special.

"Kizumi!" my mother called from our apartment upstairs, "I need you to run and deliver this to the hokage's."

I went up and my mother practically shoved a basket of fresh pastries into my arms. The smell was intoxicatingly pleasant.

"He's not feeling well," she continued, "and he needs to choose his predecessor soon."

I looked at my mother and wanted to scream, but rather than get hit, I asked coldly, "So you think that this'll get me on his good-side or something?"

"Think about it!" she said winking and clasping my shoulders then beaming at me, "We can have a better life than baking for and serving people in this café."

" 'This _café_' was Dad's idea." I reminded her, and then added, "Besides, Naruto should be the next hokage."

"Can we not mention that boy?" she asked in a hushed and irritated tone.

"He's earned it." I continued and then started down then stairs.

Regardless of what my mother said, Naruto was a good person who had his priorities in the right places. He had every right to be hokage, more so than the likes of me.

"Be back in time for dawn!" she called after me.

I rolled my eyes, "What am I gonna be doing, mom?"

"I never know with you!" she answered.

I sighed and then said goodbye, the door slamming shut after me.

'_Be home before dawn! What the hell am I going to be doing for the next seven hours?' _I thought as I walked down the deserted street.

The moon still shined brightly, though the full phase had passed two days earlier. I walked up to the house and opened the gate, then knocked on the door quietly. I was permitted to enter, and after dropping off the pastries in a kitchen filled with others (probably baked by mothers who wanted their son or daughter to be hokage as well), I then had to sign the book. I did something different this time though, this time I wrote in a messy handwriting:

'Uzumaki Naruto!'

"Miss-" the maid started.

"I know," I explained, "but he deserves to be known more than me. Naruto deserves to be here more than anybody."

The maid nodded in silent agreement and watched with baited breath as I changed my past signatures to Naruto's name in that same messy scrawl.

'_The magic of pencils!'_ I thought laughing in my head as I finished the last one and then left.

0o0

The forest trail home was dark, but the moon somewhat illuminated my path. I heard something behind me and I shrugged it off. I didn't care what it was, let me turn up dead. Just another daughter my mother would have lost. Then I remembered angrily that I had a demon in me who cared for what actually happened. It's name was Honoske, and he would never let me get hurt, not by a paper cut or anything, even when I was going to be burned by a skillet or something, he would send up his chakra to protect me. He was a fire demon actually, and I sometimes wished that he were something different, because he'd torched my homework three times already.

A knife flew towards me, almost silent, but it was too quiet for me to have missed it. The gentle "WHOOSH" it made, and then the definite "THUD!" when it slammed up against my shield of demon chakra provided thanks to, as usual, Honoske.

"Ishuzu," I said, "Come out of the darkness, you wimp."


	3. Memories and Atomic Wedgies

Chapter 2:

There was a figure, but it was shrouded by a shadow from a tall tree. It stood straight and firm.

"I'm not Ishuzu," it said coldly.

My senses were heightened, and I reached for the knife on the ground. I recognized the symbol engraved on its base, it was one of the few that my sister made!

"How did you get one of my sister's knives?" I demanded.

"She gave them to me." He replied.

"Who are you?"

"I'm no one you should be concerned with just yet. I'm looking for someone, actually." He told me.

"Who?"

"Sasuke Uchiha." The voice replied.

I chuckled, "So you're Itachi, then?"

There was a pause, "Yes."

"It figures you'd show up," I shrugged and began to walk away.

I'd have to warn Sasuke, but I could wait until tomorrow, this guy had nothing on me.

"Your sister, Ishuzu, she told me many things about you… _Kizumi_."

Apparently this guy could read minds. I stopped, how was it he could've known my name?

"I'm supposing you want me to take you to him, huh?" I asked calmly, trying to hide the panic ensuing in my head.

"It would be much appreciated." He said dryly.

"This way." I stated and began to walk towards town, regardless of whether he was following or not.

After a few minutes I asked how long he was intending to stay.

"Not sure." He told me.

I continued walking forward and listening to his footsteps behind me. I wanted to just go home and crash into my bed. Ah, sleep… the last time I'd had a good nights' sleep was a few weeks ago. I wanted my pillow more than anything right then.

"Ishuzu told me you were weak," he commented.

"Don't confuse intelligence with cowardice." I shot back.

"You gave up though." He pointed out.

"Because I, for one, value my life."

"Fair enough," he stated.

We walked in silence, and I swore that I saw a shadow in the trees, following us.

"Are you alone?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied readily, almost too readily for my liking, "Now can you hurry? I have business to attend to."

"Like killing your brother and then all of us?" I asked.

"One of the many things to be done, and not necessarily in that order, but yes. I did come here to kill my brother, not sure of the whole town yet though."

I just kept on walking, unconcerned or even flinching as images of the possible results flooded my mind. Sasuke was strong, and he had only grown stronger after his return, so Itachi would be no challenge physically, but it was mentally that worried me.

Sasuke had confessed his screwed-up childhood to me over a plate of toast and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Food was my cure-all, as long as it included toast (especially cinnamon-raisin). He'd told me many things, and each one was coming up on a mental list of why I should kill Itachi right then and there. There was only one thing stopping me from doing so, and that was Sasuke's oath.

_"I will kill my brother," _he'd vowed,_ "no matter what it takes."_

I sighed and kept on walking. I thought back to the red-haired boy. Who was he? I was sure he had a story to tell… but what?

"You are aware that we're being followed?" Itachi asked.

So he'd noticed too?

"Yup." I said shrugging on and then pressed forward

"It doesn't bother you that you don't know who it is?" he asked.

"Not really." I replied.

"You should," he said.

"Why?"

"Because," he snickered, "You never know when you might be in a trap, Kizumi."

Dozens of knives were thrown at me from almost all directions. I put up my arms and Honoske's chakra flared up for my defense in a blaze of blue flames, deflecting them all.

"Ishuzu," I said angrily, "Get your ass out here. **Now**."

Ishuzu stepped into the moonlight and giggled. She laced fingers with Itachi and waggled her left hand at me, a ring glittering.

I laughed, "Mom'll be thrilled to have a murderer in the family!"

She grinned, "Now don't tell me your jealous!"

"Shuzu, you know me better than anyone else. So you, of _all_ people, should know that I'm already married to Mom's café."

"You can't have kids with the coffee maker, Kizu," she teased using my nick-name, "You need a man in your life!"

"So now they're men? The last time I checked, you were dating boys." I snorted, "The only man in my life is Dad, and he's dead."

She grinned, "Then we'll just have to fix that, now won't we?"

I glared at her, "You wouldn't dare."

"Just because I left doesn't mean I don't have any connections anymore in the boy world."

"You could have all the connections in universe," I told her flatly, "and I still wouldn't be interested."

I didn't want a boyfriend. Not with this demon inside of me. This possession had been an accident. I hadn't had Honoske forced into me… he had chosen me.

Ishuzu and I had been reciting a ritual in order to talk to our father's spirit, but instead we summoned a demon. What was then Honoske, he had jumped into my body and had stayed there. Sometimes he acted out or sought revenge for someone who had treated me poorly, but he was usually pleasurable.

My mother was terrified when she found out, and I was locked in my room for three weeks. No friends, no school, no connections to the outside world. That was when I was six and after that, my mother never looked at me the same way again. Then when Ishuzu ran away, it was suddenly my job to work all the hours in the café, to do well in school, and also stay out of trouble.

I'd always been in Ishuzu's shadow, and I think that was why Honoske had chosen me: so that I'd be different from her. So that I couldn't be just some putty being forced into a circle's spot on a child's toy, that now I was a square. So that I couldn't be her shadow, that I had my own identity. Then again, Honoske had his ways of showing himself too… if he didn't like someone, he would act out.

For example, when Itachi suddenly flew and was dangling by his underpants in a nearby tree, it meant that he didn't like him. It was like having a miniature mother in you that did what they thought.

Ishuzu stared at me as Itachi whimpered when the branch began to snap under his weight. Honoske, because he was a fire tiger, purred in content.

"Yeah, Shuzu… it's still here." I told her.

She knew immediately what I had implied then ran over and wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm so SORRY!" she exclaimed hugging me tightly.

She squeezed me and I did somewhat blame her… she _had_ been the one saying the ritual in the first place.

"Get the tears out now." I said soothingly, "because mom is gonna kill you."

"Umm… help?" Itachi asked as tears formed in his eyes when his underwear rode up even higher and his voice squeaked.

**Please review!!! I need feedback! -. - (I hope that this chapter cleared the whole 'mother-dies-if-the-kid-is-possessed' thing) so please review!!! XD THANKS!**


	4. Welcome Home

Chapter 3:

"We're home!" I called at two in the morning into the dark door of the apartment.

Lights were turned on and my mother opened the door in her white with pink polka-dot nightgown.

"Who's 'we'?" she asked yawning.

Ishuzu stepped into view and my mother's eyes were first filled with joy then clouded with anger.

"Young lady! I…" but she trailed off when Itachi walked in and then she spotted the ring on her daughter's finger, "Kizu, go get us some tea."

In the shadow again… didn't matter if I had a demon or not.

I was in the kitchen as I heard my sister and mother discussing wedding plans after introductions had been made. I sighed; they always had the healthier relationship. Mine barely consisted of talking, other than "do this" and "do that".

I looked out the window and I could have sworn I saw someone on the adjacent rooftop, looking through the window and down at me. I was probably imagining things…

The kettle was whistling and I poured their tea and went to bed, suddenly exhausted. Honoske didn't like Itachi, and I couldn't have cared less.

0o0

"KIZU!" my mother was shouting at the top of her lungs.

I moaned and turned, falling out of my bed. I lay there staring at my ceiling as Ishuzu walked in.

"Long night?" she chuckled.

"Night seems like such along time ago." I commented, seeing Itachi stir on the pullout bed in the living room. "So what's so special about this guy anyway?"

"I honestly don't know… we were just drawn to each other." She explained, tracing his figure with her mind's eye.

I looked into her eyes and it was obvious she loved him. More than that, she seemed to glow around him, I noticed, when we were at the kitchen table.

"More pancakes, honey?" she asked gazing deeply into his eyes, ignoring my growling stomach and my empty plate completely. He was on his second helping.

"Sure." He answered, gazing right back.

Somehow, this was not the cold heartless brother Sasuke had given me the image of. This guy was very close to having me smacking him and telling him to act like himself and go and kill someone. Where was the bloodlust? The anger? Where?!

I left the table and threw on a black camisole and a pair of cargo jeans for the café and headed down there to open up. It was chilly that morning, so I grabbed some arm socks from my drawer and hurried down the stairs.

I switched the 'CLOSED' side of the sign to the "OPEN' side and started the coffee, it would take a few minutes for the cook to get here. She was an older woman who didn't talk much, only enough to curse at you if you dropped something, but in this weather her joints would take her longer to work and delay her from getting here by her usual time.

Like clockwork, the red-haired boy showed up and took his usual seat by the window, declining from ordering. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him shivering as I ordered from an older group of people.

"Here," I said handing him a cup of tea and a plate of toast.

"Do you only serve toast?" he asked.

I couldn't ell if he was joking or not, so I answered him normally, "We have a whole other selection, but you weren't very interested." Everyone was eating or was waiting for food so I asked, "Can I sit here?"

He looked puzzled, but nodded in agreement. I took the seat across from him.

"As you know," I continued, "I'm Kizumi, but I've yet to learn your name."

"Gaara."

"It's nice to meet you, Gaara." I said smiling.

He looked at me.

"So yeah… You can call me Kizu if you want…" I told him and then hurried to seat the next family that had entered.

The rest of the day was busy because my mother hadn't felt like getting up out of bed, as usual, and I had to work all day alone, but that meant more tips! In fact, I was o busy that I wasn't able to talk to Gaara until closing time.

"So, Gaara," I said, he glanced at me to show acknowledgement, "what do you think of the toast?"

"It's… good." He replied.

"Oh, wonderful!" I cried.

Honoske stirred but he was too afraid to day something. He usually was asleep most of the time, but I sensed that he was wide-wake and alert, almost afraid.

'Boy. Evil. Demon.' He managed to say, but I didn't care.

Gaara's eyes, so sad and lonesome, caught mine and we stared at each other.

"My mother died because of me." He said looking at the floor.

Honoske was cowering now, and I was trying to calm him down, but he was inconsolable! All he said was, 'Boy. Evil… Demon.'

"Oh…" I said clearing a table.

"She didn't even get to hold me," he continued, "It's been such a long time…"

"A long time since her death?" I asked cautiously.

"She died giving birth to me…" he said then added quietly, so that he thought I couldn't hear, "To a monster."

"How long has it been?" I asked.

"Sixteen years today," he told me.

"Today's your birthday?!" I exclaimed.

"…Yes." He admitted.

Why hadn't he spent it with what precious little family he had left? Or why had he come here?

"I don't know," he answered to the last one, "This place… it just keeps me calm. Like a relaxing tea…"

I switched the sign back to 'CLOSED' and Gaara got up to leave.

"Nuh-uh," I said, "Sit."

He sat.

"I'll be right back," I warned, "so don't leave."

I slipped into the kitchen and filched a cupcake and a birthday candle. I brought it over and lit it, then sang him 'Happy Birthday' quietly.

"What am I supposed to do now?" he asked when I finished singing.

"Make a wish and then blow out the candle." I replied.

He closed his eyes and I could see him concentrate, and the he finally blew out the candle. I removed it from the cupcake and he ate it, a smile of satisfaction eased its way onto his face when he finished licking his fingers. When he left, it seemed, for once, that the gourd on his back was no longer a burden.

He'd told me so little, but I felt so close.

**Okay! Another chapter gone by! Don't worry, they're not gonna jump into things… or maybe they will… I haven't really decided, just a slight outline for a chapter in my head that could decide this all! Please review:D Thanks for reading! **


	5. Learning History

AN/: I don't own Naruto only the names you don't recognize, and also, in here Gaara knows that the demon isn't his mother (will be explained later on) and so he will be having a teeny tiny attitude with it… hee hee, **PLEASE R&R!! THANK YOU!**

Chapter 4:

I walked up the stairs to the apartment only to find Itachi and Ishuzu making out on the floor.

"Go get a room," I muttered, just loud enough for them to hear so that they separated faster than lightening.

"I'd use my room," Ishuzu said snidely after controlling her blush, "but Dad told us no boys."

I shot her a look.

"What?" she protested, "where else am I to-"

"There's a side ally." I told her then added, "Some fresh air would serve you both some good, because I _know_ that you didn't just sit in opposite corners of the room all day and twiddle your thumbs."

They both blushed a deep red and headed outside. I shook my head and turned to spy a note on the kitchen table. It read:

'_Kizu,_

_I went to visit the hokage in his state of illness. I don't know when I'll get back; the cook is very… nice shall we say, see you soon enough!_

_Love,_

_ Mom'_

I sighed and with a snap of my fingers the note burned up with the help of Honoske's chakra. Blue flames licked its sides until it was only a pile of black ashes. A tiger appeared on the rug and stared at me, my demon Honoske.

"That boy," he began, "is Evil itself."

"Honoske," I sighed, "calm down."

"I'm serious."

He growled to prove his point.

"What makes him so '_evil'_ anyway?" I asked.

"A sand spirit."

"A what?"

"A vengeful sand spirit," he repeated.

"Honoske," I said, "I can usually tell when someone has a demon in them, and Gaara doesn't."

"The fact that you _guessed_ Naruto had a demon doesn't mean you can tell." He pointed out.

I crossed my arms.

"The demon isn't always in him, today it was in the gourd." He continued.

That must be why he always had it with him! To hold the demon with!

"The problem is that the demon takes over at will… though the boy is sometimes evil on his own accord." Honoske added.

"Fine then, when isn't he in control, just so I know." I asked.

"The real question should be: when _is_ Gaara in control?" he modified.

I looked at him, "Alright then, when _is_ he in control?"

"Typically when in the café," he answered, "What you don't know is that your mother," he sounded strained when he said 'mother', "put a seal on the doorway, neutralizing the effects of any demon who enters."

"Is that why you can't speak too much down there?"

"Yes… the seal is weaker up here, so that's why I can also appear."

"So when Gaara leaves…"

"It's back to being controlled." He finished.

"Th-that's horrible!" I exclaimed a it all dawned on me.

Honoske shook his head and all of a sudden Itachi walked in. He stopped and stared at Honoske. Honoske got up and I smiled and waved to Itachi as I got on his back and we bounded out the open window onto the empty street below. The further we were from the café the stronger and bigger Honoske grew. I began to doze from the steady plodding of his feet hitting the ground, propelling us further and further.

"Kizumi," he said, "wake up."

We were in a meadow and he was almost three times my size. I looked at the moon without worry; it was going into Waning Gibbous (that's when it's getting closer to New Moon, but still large, generally a few nights after Full Moon… EARTH SCIENCE PEOPLE!)

"Why me?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

He looked down at me, "What do you mean?"

"Why did you come into me?"

He sighed in a sort of defeated way; I was going to get my answer! _Finally_!

"Over Ishuzu, correct?" he asked, I nodded, "… I can't tell you that."

"What? Why?!" I demanded.

"Well, I'll try to explain it as best I can… I think it's because you needed me the most."

I looked at him; there was something hollow in that answer, but there was something also truthful in it. I just rubbed his head when he lay beside me and listened to the steady purr issuing forth from deep inside him, reminding me of rumbling thunder.

"Or perhaps you needed me!" I laughed, not so content with his answer still, but I would buy it for now.

**0o0**

Gaara walked out feeling a lot better. There was something about that girl, something he quite couldn't put his finger on…

"That girl, she is a waste." A familiar voice told him.

Gaara stiffened, "Why don't you kill her then?"

"Because," the demon replied, "she's always in that damn café."

"So?"

"There's a seal that prevents him from doing so."

"Good." Gaara said flatly.

"Excuse me?" he asked darkly.

The truth was, Gaara wanted his demon gone because it wasn't his mother like he'd thought it would have been, just some demon that was responsible for killing his mother. He just wanted the demon to leave him alone and die.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"Besides, she has a demon in her as well."

Gaara stood stunned.

"It might be fun," it mused, "to kill then both I mean…"

Gaara, if possible, paled.

"No…" he said, and images of blood came to his mind.

His hands… His shirt… Hi shoes, covered in her crimson red blood, and then her body. Her body sprawled out on the floor, blood coming from her head and her legs and arms broken… it wouldn't stop! The blood wouldn't stop, and he felt tears come into his eyes as he saw her blood at his fingertips, dripping down from his arms, and then plopping onto the floor… stealing his sanity.

The demon chuckled, rocketing him out of that nightmare, he was shaking badly, "You did that Gaara; you killed her."

Gaara sank to his knees and clutched his head, "No… NO!"

Gaara's defenses weakened and the demon, Shukaku, tried to take over. But Gaara hurried back to the café. Step by step he regained control until Shukaku was back into place… wherever that was.

A tall dark haired boy bustled out the door and was muttering something about a tiger and Kizu. Gaara caught the door before it closed and entered. No delightful smell greeted him, not even Kizu was down there to flash him a welcoming smile. He shook his head as the thought of her limp body penetrated the barrier he'd created. He looked around once under control, now what? He headed upstairs to find Kizumi, but instead found that no one was there, so he just sat on her bed… the door to her room had been left open anyway. He chuckled quietly as he went past, the door read: 'KIZU'S ROOM! ENTER WITH CAUTION!' He sat in the shadows of her bed and waited.

**0o0**

I crawled through the opening in my window after I'd opened it and crouched on the sill then turned to look out at the tiger on the escape ladder. My mother had made me get one in case I'd ever set my room on fire. I opened my arms and with a great amount of chakra usage, we merged back together. I fell on my bed, but instead of felling the bounce of my springs, I fell on something rather solid and a steady line of curses issued forth from my mouth.

I got up and my vision was somewhat blurred from the use of so much chakra at once, but ion the faint glow of the moon I could make out the outline of a human silhouette. I collapsed into it, knowing that it was probably my sister, and I fell into a very deep slumber.

**0o0**

Gaara watched in awe as he saw Kizu absorb the tiger into her chest. She slowly climbed in and suddenly fell on top of him! He didn't know what to do as she rolled off of him and fell onto the floor with a "THUD!" She slowly steadied herself then tried to focus in on him, he prayed that she wouldn't recognize him.

Gaara sat petrified as Kizu then fell into his arms and began to snooze. He looked and saw that her cropped red hair had recently gotten black tips at the ends of her bangs, but they looked all right. She had a fair skin tone and a slim, but fit, body figure. She looked so calm as she inhaled and exhaled deeply. She looked so helpless though, like nothing would wake her even if someone screamed… he continued to look down at her, and for the first time in a very long time he let a smile grace his lips, but still, he smiled.


	6. Mirror, Mirror What Do They See?

Chapter 5:

I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon being cooked. I was tucked safely into my bed and I groggily recalled the night before. I rubbed my eyes and pulled off the sheets wearily. I was still in my clothes, odd… typically my mother or sister, whomever found me first would change me into my pajamas.

My head throbbed and I had to move extra slowly because I was so dizzy. Upon running my hand through my hair I felt a bump on my head that doubled the dizziness, so much that I fell flat on my face in the hall.

"Are you usually this graceful in the morning?" a voice asked.

I cursed at it in my head, damning the day he was born… he… oh crap! It didn't sound like Itachi.

"Help me up," I muttered.

I reached my arm upwards and whoever it was took it and pulled me to my feet as another wave of dizziness swept over me. I fell into their shoulder, and whomever it happened to be smelled of bacon. They placed me in a chair and handed me something cold to put on my bump. I squeezed my eyes shut until it felt like the world wasn't spinning on a tilt-a-whirl.

When I finally opened my eyes I thought I was hallucinating. There was a red-haired boy in my kitchen, standing over my skillet, cooking my breakfast, and he looked exactly like Gaara!

"Gaara?" I asked.

"Don't expect this often." He told me flatly.

"But how did…"

"Your mom's off with the cook, and that girl, your sister I presume, has a major hang-over, _she_ won't be joining us anytime soon, and her boyfriend went to go get her some club soda and crackers," he explained.

'_How long was I out?! A freaking half hour and my sister gets **wasted**!' _I thought angrily, '_What the hell did I tell her about drinking tequila!!!'_

"Where is she now?" I sighed, in a much calmer tone than the one in my head.

"In the bathroom retching up her stomach." He told me.

"And she knows you're here?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he said, surprising me, "but she promised that she wouldn't tell…"

I could see that Gaara was as surprised at his willingness to talk as I was. He seemed to be more uncomfortable with the sound of his gloomy and gravely voice. He put the food on a plate and placed it in on the table, then helping me out of the chair and into the kitchen barstool.

"Thanks," I said as I took off the icepack and ate.

The eggs were good actually, just a little… _gritty_. I didn't really care, many had told me that I had and iron stomach, and so I shoved it into my mouth, then washed it down with a glass of orange juice. Occasionally the silence in the apartment was punctured by the sound of Ishuzu in the bathroom, but it wasn't like I cared.

A giant explosion boomed through the village and I watched out the village and let Honoske take over my eyes. Itachi and Sasuke had finally met, shit.

"Great," I muttered and grabbed my coat, regardless of a throbbing head or not, I had to protect my soon to be brother-in-law. I stumbled down the stairs and Gaara accompanied me through town as fast as we could.

**0o0**

Sasuke and Itachi were circling each other in the middle of the street. Itachi had a bloody lip and Sasuke's forehead had a gash in it. I looked on with and rolled my eyes when Sasuke went to attack with his One Thousand Birds jitsu, a harmless attack with Honoske's chakra at my power. Sasuke ran like the lightening itself, but I got in front of Itachi in time, blocking it with a shield of black flames. I caught the fist with the chakra pumping out of it and twisted it until I heard a faint snap. His energy was so strong, even with a broken wrist!

"Why are you trying to save that bastard?" he asked narrowing his eyes, like his hand didn't even bother him.

I noticed the sharingan in his eyes and felt Honoske's chakra increase, in order to protect me from its effects.

"Because," I told him, "Itachi is marrying my sister, I kinda need him until the wedding is over."

Sasuke looked stunned.

"Yup! It's true!" Itachi laughed.

"Look," I told him, my voice lowered, "as soon as the wedding's over I guess I could let you two be idiots and kill each other, but please have some patience."

Sasuke glared at him. I was starting to strain with the amount of chakra in my hands.

"Leave it be, little brother," Itachi said, all traces of his good mood dissipated, "I came to ask you something."

"What?" he snapped.

"Would you be the best man?" Itachi said.

Sasuke was so dumb-founded he dropped his fists and I relaxed, but Honoske kept the flames coming.

When Sasuke recovered he smirked, "What about that guy, Kisame?"

"I left the Akatsuki," Itachi mumbled.

My eyes widened- my almost brother really _was_ a murder! And I had protected this guy? What kind of an idiot was I? I looked around for Gaara, but he had disappeared.

'_**Demon took over**.'_ Honoske told me.

'_But why did he leave?'_ I asked.

'_**To save these people… I think that when the real Gaara wants to be, he's quite compassionate.**'_

'_The real Gaara? Then who was I talking to back at the house?'_

'**_Gaara was in control, but his demon was still there and was able to hear everything._'**

**'**_Is that why-'_ I thought, but someone was tapping me on the shoulder.

I turned and saw Shikamaru.

"Hey," I said.

He half-grinned, "I saw what you did."

"Oh?" I asked, "Back there? -It was just a block."

"Yeah," he said, "You want a cup of coffee? I got kicked out of my dad's apartment so now I work here."

He pointed to the tea-shop behind him.

"Do you want some tea?" he asked.

"Umm… I dunno… do they have hot chocolate?"

"Of course," he told me, and guided me into the shop.

He went behind the counter and started to make me hot chocolate. Honoske was starting to growl and I tried to calm him down, but he wouldn't stop. Rather than see what kind of underwear Shikamaru wore I decided it was time to leave.

"Look, my mom'll be expecting me back soon." I lied and went to leave.

"What about your hot chocolate?" he called.

"Rain check!" I responded and I left.

As soon as I was on my way down the street I demanded of Honoske, '_What's wrong with Shikamaru? You've never growled at him before!'_

'_**He's lazy.**'_

'_So? He's working on improving that!'_

'_**No Kizu, I can read a person's intentions and his was just to meet girls.**'_

'_Oh…'_

'_**Yeah, "oh".**' _He said coldly.

We walked back in silence, thinking hard on what Honoske had said… that Shikamaru wanted to pick up girls? Nonetheless _me?_ I caught a glimpse of my reflection I a store window and stopped to look at it.

What was pretty about me? My hair looked too unnatural, though it was natural (all but the black tips). Seldom did I go a day without fishnets, today was no exception because these were the clothes I had worn yesterday. My feet were larger than average, and my fingers were long like my legs. Sure I exercised, I had to carry trays that were quite heavy at times to tables with excellent balance. Besides I was an alternative ninja, I only went into action when Neji died or got seriously injured. I looked at my reflection again, was this really what people saw? I wasn't average anything… I wasn't even normal. I walked back with my eyes trained on the ground.


	7. Catching Up

Chapter 6:

My mother was serving Itachi and Sasuke when I entered the café. My mother was nibbling her lip, a sign that she was uncomfortable and wasn't happy. I gave a small wave and slipped up the stairs to visit Ishuzu before my mother could order me to do some work.

"Hey," she said weakly, and patted a spot on her bed for me to sit.

"How're you feeling?" I asked.

"Like crap, but that's to be expected," she shrugged.

"What were you drinking?"

"Mad dog."

"Oh God, Shuzu!" I exclaimed laughing, "Let me put on some tea."

"Thanks… Itachi brought me some crackers." She told me, holding out a box of Saltines.

"He's a good fiancée," I commented.

"He has his moments." She chuckled.

"Don't they all?" I teased and her smile broadened.

It was good to know my sister was still her self, even in the midst of the worst hangover in her life. I put the kettle on and went into her room again, this time sitting behind her and holding her hair as she threw up. I looked at her and suddenly felt envious.

She had long, dark, chocolate brown hair that had a red tinge to it, unlike my own. Her fingers were long and dexterous, as were her legs long and slim. She had a sleek build, not trashy, but not anorexic either. What was my sister? Was she perfect?

It would seem… She always had the better grades, boys, friends; she even had a better time at parties than me. I wanted to see what made her that way, so damn perfect.

'_**No one's perfect.**'_ Honoske stated.

'_Well she is really damn close.' _I answered sharply.

'_**That's the jealousy talking.**' _He said.

I ignored him and looked at the ring twinkling on my sister's left hand. _'How could one ring symbolize so much?' _I thought bitterly.

She stopped throwing up and I handed her a damp washcloth to rinse her face with. Ishuzu flashed me a grateful smile and I turned to get the tea ready because the kettle was whistling. I brought it in and then swiveled to make a run for my room.

"Hold still for a second, will ya?" she ordered playfully, "I've only seen you in the dark!"

Ishuzu, with much effort, grabbed my shoulders and faced me in the direction of her open window. The sunlight spilled over my body and she grinned as she studied me. I looked at the ground as she managed to finger a lock of my hair.

"My, you've gotten so… _tall_!" she cried happily.

Another imperfect feature.

"Oh, I missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

Ishuzu threw her arms around me and squeezed me tightly. I stood there limp, when was the last time she had even touched me? The day before she left.

"So… any boyfriends?" she asked eagerly, I knew she'd been itching to ask me that all morning.

My mind flashed back to Shikamaru and I told her.

"HA!" she laughed, "I remember him! You dumped sand down his pants when he made fun of your castle."

I scarcely recalled this.

"You were three, so was he, and after that he was scared of you until he turned six!" she laughed.

I had been thirteen when she'd left… when I needed her the most. She'd been eighteen, and no less enthusiastic as she was now at age twenty-one. I was now sixteen and had only been kissed once- by Neji- at Ino's birthday party because we were playing spin the bottle. He didn't kiss very well, a definite reason as to his single status. It didn't really bother me that no one had asked me out.

"So, how's the café?" she asked on a more serious note.

"Business is growing," I answered.

I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to ask me something, but she couldn't.

"Shuzu, what? You want to ask something, so what is it?" I asked irritated.

"Who was that red-haired boy?" she asked.

"Gaara."

"Oh… at first I thought that mom adopted him or something."

"Nope," I shrugged, "though it's possible, his mother is dead."

"How horrible!"

"He's sixteen…"

"Just like you!" she said slyly, I could see a plan forming in her mind.

"I want no part in any scheme of yours!" I stated crossing my arms.

"Oh c'mon!" she protested, "It's perfect! He's got red-hair and a dead mother, we have a dead father, this could all work out!"

'_**He's also got a demon**,'_ Honoske thought smugly.

'_Shut-up, she doesn't need to know that.'_ I replied.

**0o0**

Gaara was too far away from the café; the demon was taking over. He went into a side alley so as to not call attention to himself.

'_**This is how it's meant to be. Don't resist.**' _Shukaku told him darkly.

Gaara hurried in the direction of the café, where was she? Where was Kizumi? He needed her!

'_**Give up,**' _Shukaku said, '_**I can hurt you if you wish for that to happen.**'_

Gaara keeled to the floor in another side alley, he clutched his arms and tried to focus on fighting the demon. He needed to stay himself; he didn't want to scare her away.

'_I won't!' _Gaara cried in his head, '_I won't!'_

His cries grew weaker and weaker as it felt like he was being sucked inside himself.

'_I won't…I won't.' _he said wearily.

'_**You will, and you just did.**' _The demon snickered and took over.

When Gaara was sealed away in the gourd the demon shook his head. '_**That girl… That girl is going to die a slow and painful death one day.**' _he thought agitated.

Shukaku flexed his human fingers and smiled as a black cat crossed his path.

"It's gonna be a wonderful day." he said in Gaara's voice, an evil grin plastered on his face as he walked out into the sunshine of another bright day.

**Please, review! Tell me what you thought; what you think could be improved! I need to know what you think so I can do better!**


	8. History

Chapter 7:

I brushed my sister's hair as she told me all about Itachi. His age (22), his height (5' 7"), his eyes (weird Sharingan thing), his dreams (having a family)- I laughed at that one- even his sex life (he'd lost it to some slut back in his old village).

"And you asked him that: why?" I asked to the last one.

"Because I wanted to know if he had any experience." She said.

"And you would have had experience when?" I reminded her.

"New subject," she commented, turning a lovely shade of red.

'_Figures,_' I thought rolling my eyes, '_she leaves home just to go and get screwed.'_

_'**Don't be so hard on her,**'_ Honoske commented, _'**For all you know it could've been an accident.**'_

'_How is having sex an accident!' _I demanded.

'_**I dunno…**' _he shrugged and went back to sleep.

I sighed inwardly, but my sister was never fooled by the smiles I'd always pasted on my face, this one was no exception.

"Kizu… do you like Itachi as a family member?" she asked.

"He's a murderer," I shrugged and left her sitting there.

**0o0**

I walked down the stairs in a black tank top and jeans with fishnets and that fake smile on my face. I tapped my mother on the shoulder when she didn't have anything in her arms.

"I'll take over, Mom." I told her, "Go sleep."

Her eyes had dark circles under them, but she beamed at me and went upstairs. I put on an apron and quickly got back into the rhythm of the café. The constant hum of the dishwasher, the steady drip of the coffee maker, and the varying levels of buzz from multiple conversations; to any other person this was noise, but it was a symphony to me.

"Six sodas?" I asked a group of teen boys a few years younger than me.

They agreed, "Chop! Chop!" one called as I left their table.

I rolled my eyes when I was back near the kitchen. I was always on the lookout for Gaara, but a screaming toddler was taking up his spot. I rushed over an handed the child a lollipop, which the kid immediately shut-up, and the mother left an extra large tip.

"Kizumi," a voice called.

I turned and saw Itachi, I was not in the mood to talk to hum: good thing I was working.

"Kinda busy." I answered as I brushed past with a tray loaded with pie.

"It's about Ishuzu," he continued.

"I'd love to talk about my sister in great depth and detail with you," I replied sarcastically, "but my next break is never."

"Well what if I helped out?" he asked as I waited for my order to come out of the kitchen.

"You?" I gawked.

He nodded, putting on the serious face I'd seen on Sasuke multiple times before, so I handed him am apron. I laid out the basics for him and told that to get good tips he had to be pleasurable.

"That means smile, dumb ass." I told him when I received a puzzled look.

In a few minutes he was working on balancing a tray and tackling the art of being pushy to get customers to leave. I smiled at my work and returned to the tables I'd assigned to myself.

"God!" he cried after an hour, "I need a break!"

"Minimum of an hour and a half in order to get a ten minute break." I grinned; I loved to rain on his parade.

"So," I asked as I switched the sign from "OPEN" to "CLOSED" at the end of the day, "what did you think of your first day?"

He collapsed into a chair, "My first and final day."

I laughed, "Thanks for the help anyway."

He nodded and slowly ascended the stairs while I cleaned up. I was a little disappointed; he hadn't remembered what he wanted to talk to me about. Also, I was bummed that Gaara hadn't shown up all day. Was he okay? I realized that I was biting my lip, a nervous habit I'd picked up from my mother. My mind kept on drifting back to Gaara, no matter what I did.

**0o0**

Gaara waited until Shukaku was asleep before he took control again. He (Gaara) was an insomniac; so he needed little to none sleep in order to function properly. After regaining control he headed towards the café, '_What am I doing?'_ he demanded in his head.


	9. The Release Point

Chapter 8:

I stared out at the cloudless night through my window. Honoske was sitting on my bed and I was stroking him. Suddenly Gaara appeared in my room and it took a lot for me not to cry out.

He looked at me and uttered one word, "Help."

"With what?" I asked.

"Get this demon out of me." He told me.

Honoske sat up and spoke darkly, his hackles raised, "The demon you have won't leave, not without being forced out."

"So make it." He shot back.

I was surprised that Gaara didn't seem set back that there was a speaking tiger on my bed.

"It's not that simple," Honoske started, "there's something called the 'release point'… a time when I demon can be expelled from the human."

Again I was surprised, why hadn't he told me this before?

"Tell me more." Gaara inquired.

"You can't do it." He stated.

"Why?"

"You need someone else with a demon in them to perform the jitsu."

Gaara suddenly turned to me. There was such longing and pain in his eyes that I had to look away, "Kizumi… this demon is yours, right?"

"Yes." I answered slowly.

"Kizu, I've never asked anyone to help me this much, even family… but you're the only one that I can think of."

He was begging me.

"Gaara, would you like me to learn the jitsu?"

He smiled, "Yes."

I smiled back and nodded as I pondered what this would entail.

**0o0**

"YOU SIMPLY THOUGHT THAT BECAUSE I KNEW **OF** IT THAT WE COULD PERFORM IT?" Honoske roared later that night in the meadow.

I brought me knees n and held them for warmth.

"I made a mistake, okay?" I defended, "Now I can't let him down… I couldn't… those eyes. Honoske, he needs me, he needs _us_. You said yourself that he's compassionate!"

"When the demon isn't in control!" he shot back.

"Gaara needs a chance! Why won't you give it to him?" I demanded.

"Because the jitsu requires things that all I- and all demons- hate and aren't able to touch."

"So you _do_ know how to do this," I said darkly.

"What if I do?"

"Then do it for me! I've always been the lower ninja, the younger sister, help me be something else!"

"I already have!" he declared, "And ever since that Gaara," he spat his name, "showed up, you don't really care about me like you used to! I could die if I do this, and you don't realize it!"

"That's not true!" I shouted back.

"Ask Ishuzu or your mother," he spat that name too, "you can't stop worrying about him! I hear your thoughts, Kizu, and I know that I've fallen to the by-side!"

"Honoske… I'm sorry… I didn't know." I replied.

He sat and looked at me.

"Kizu," he began after taking a deep breath to relax himself, "I am not immortal, far from it. Your youthful chakra is what helps me to recover."

"I thought you were young."

"This body may be, but my spirit is reaching its end… if I do this, I could die."

"No! Don't say things that aren't true!"

"I would not lie to you about something like this, the jitsue requires much chakra, which I have, but it's my mast remaining supply."

"Huh?"

"Take Naruto for an example-"

"Naruto?"

"-He has th nine-tailed fox demon in him. Now when Naruto's chakra runs low, he calls upon the demon's for more power," he continued, "His demon is rather young, so it willingly gives out its chakra because it has so much left. Giving a human a shield or more chakra than they're used to it nothing for us. When we use our chakra to its fullest though we are left with little and like a human's it does return, only as we age it returns slower. Kizu, I am old, if I use this much chakra I might not be able to recover and I'll die."

"I'm not asking for you to use all of your chakra," I explained, "what if we combined chakra?"

"You are willing to do this?"

"Yes."

"I don't know… once the demon leaves someone has to kill it…"

**0o0**

Gaara sat in a tree and listened as the wind carried voices from the nearby meadow. Kizu and that tiger seemed to be arguing about him. In the moonlight the tiger's figure loomed over Kizu's. Gaara's heart thudded in his chest as his mind raced through thoughts of what he would do if- no _when_- Shukaku was killed.

How could he possibly thank Kizu? Already she was fighting on his behalf, and was prepared to risk her life for him. She barely knew him… she didn't know anything that he'd done; yet she was willing to put her life on the line.

'_**You fool,**'_ Shukaku said, '**_I'll make her so sorry she was born.'_**

_'Leave her alone.'_

_'**Excuse me?**'_

_'Leave. Her. Alone.' _He thought, enunciating each word carefully.

'_**OF ALL PEOPLE YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND WHY I LOATHE HER THE MOST!**'_

_'And why's that?'_

_'**Because her demon is tame and won't fight me!**'_

'_So?'_

_'**She just goes on her merry way and doesn't have to worry because that stupid demon wants to protect her!**'_

_'Huh?'_

_'**Her seal is so worn down that Honoske can leave her at will.**'_

_'So why doesn't he?'_

_'**I don't know.**' _Shukaku replied annoyed.

'_You're a lot more civilized tonight.'_

_'**Civilized would not be the right word… more like 'playing it cool.''**_

Gaara didn't question further, why should he? Shukaku was different; moody… this manner of somewhat kindly behavior towards him was welcome and well deserved.

'_**Oh, and Gaara?**'_

_'What?'_ he stiffened.

'**_Kizu _will_ die, whether by me or by something else- most likely me- she will die._**_'_

Gaara gritted his teeth; he would protect her. He would defend her from anything at all.

Shukaku chuckled, '_**But what about you?**'_

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	10. Movie Night

Chapter 9

I sat cross-legged on my bedroom floor, trying not to think of Gaara as I tried desperately to focus on an essay that was due tomorrow. Itachi and Ishuzu had gone out, as had my mother (over to that cook's place again!). I ran a hand through my hair, wishing desperately to yank it out like a mad woman.

"You're such a procrastinator." A voice said from outside my open window.

I turned, "Gaara!"

I smiled and let him in by opening it wider. He stepped through and onto my un-made bed. I led him to the kitchen and put him in a chair.

I opened the fridge, "Are you hungry?" I asked as the cool air washed over me.

"Ravenous."

I smiled, he was going to get fed even if wasn't.

"So what brings you here?" I asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha… he's being an arrogant bastard again." He answered with a slight smile on his lips.

"Not that boy!" I complained, "I am so _sick_ of seeing him!"

Gaara cocked his head, " 'Seeing him?'"

"Oh no! No! No! Are you _nuts_?" I exclaimed, "No way do I like him like that!"

He didn't look convinced.

"Look," I said flatly, a knife in my hand, "the last girl who _admitted_ to liking Sasuke was nearly scalped by Ino and Sakura."

He chuckled, not something like him, but then again, neither was him smiling.

"I haven't seen you around the café… where've you been?" I asked casually.

"Training," he replied stiffening.

"Oh…" I said, "Oh! I have the perfect thin for you then! I always make it when I finish my training."

I took out a loaf of bread and sliced it, making sure it was even. I was such a perfectionist.

"What're you doing?" he inquired, trying to peer over my shoulder.

"Making you the best sandwich in the world!"

"I don't deserve the best." Eh said quietly, looking at the ground.

"Fine, but you're getting it anyway." I told him firmly.

He looked up at me from his emo-ness, "Why?"

"You've worked hard today, so you earned it! And don't you dare try and tell me that earning is the same as deserving, because it's not!" I explained.

"But I didn't earn it either." He said as I put in front of him.

"I say you've earned it, so shut-up and eat the damn sandwich."

"O-okay." He mumbled and bit into it.

He grinned and took another bite greedily.

"You," he said after swallowing, "are an excellent sandwich maker!"

I laughed, "Thanks."

**0o0**

"Hmm…" I said plopping down on the couch and picking up the remote, "I wonder what's on TV?"

Gaara stood and watched as I flipped through the channels. His eyes never left me though.

"You _can_ sit ya' know." I told him, gesturing to the cushion beside me.

"Where?" he asked, trying to get out of sitting.

I threw off the pillows, "Right here."

"Okay…" he said sitting awkwardly, "Now what?"

"We watch the movie." I answered.

I finished flipping the channels and decided upon Lilo and Stitch. When it got up to the part where Bubbles goes to take Lilo away I was bawling, like usual.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

"I'm sorry," I sniffled, "this scene just always gets me."

"Oh… are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," I said wiping my eyes, "I'm fine now."

I couldn't help but wonder as the movie continued if Gaara had ever said 'are you going to be okay?' before… perhaps those words… but in that specific order? I tried to avoid those thoughts as much as I could.

That was the reason I was a sub-ninja; I was emotional. I could go from hyper to sad to angry or nothing at all in a matter of seconds. More often than not though, I fought with my heart rather than my mind; not a desired effect when you have kunai knives and you're angry.

I tried to focus in the movie, but it wasn't working so I glanced at Gaara. He was enthralled with it so much that when the movie finished he watched the end credits.

"So, what'd you think?" I asked.

He paused, thinking it over; his answer shocked me.

"I'm like Stitch… and you're just like Lilo, I think." He replied slowly.

I looked at him, "I don't think I understand."

"I'm like Stitch; the strange creature no one loves or wants, who needs someone to be his family. You're Lilo, because no offense, you're a little odd at times, and you welcomed me into your life."

I looked at him and felt tears well up in my eyes, he was right.

"Are you upset? I'm sorry, you're not odd!" he panicked.

"No, no," I told him, "I'm just touched by what you said… it's just so right."

"So you're not upset?"

I laughed, "Of course not!"

We sat for a few seconds, so I decided that I was going to have a pillow fight with him. I went to hurl it at his head, but a barrier of sand formed, separating me from my target.

I slumped back onto the couch, "Damn."

"What were you going to do with that pillow anyway?" he asked with a smirk as the sand started to flow back into his gourd.

"I was going to have a pillow fight with you!" I declared.

"A what?"

"You know! Where you hit each other over the head with a pillow until you both fall onto the ground laughing so hard you can't breath."

"Sounds fun." He said sarcastically.

"Girls do it at slumber parties." A voice behind me stated.

Shit, m back was turned but I knew that voice. I knew it was my mother and that there would be hell to pay. Shit, shit! Oh, and did I mention _shit_?

"Kizu, who's this?" she asked walking up behind me.

"Umm… this is my friend Gaara." I answered nervously.

"Uh-huh." She said, obviously doubting the fact that I had a boy over while she was out, "and he's _just_ a friend?"

Who could blame her? But I cringed mentally at the insinuation anyway.

"Yes, he's the boy for the café."

"Humph." Was all she said before heading into her room and shutting the door.

Instead of relaxing I tensed. She hadn't yelled at me… that definitely meant that I'd be hearing about it later.

"I guess I'll be leaving," Gaara said and got up.

"No!" I cried in a whisper, "If you leave I am deader than dead meat!"

He chuckled, "I wish I could watch, but Temari is starting to get suspicious of why I've been out of the apartment so often."

"Some friend you are!" I teased.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lilo." He said smiling and left through the front door with his gourd firmly secured on his back.

It was then that I realized he was changing; at least his voice. It wasn't all gloom and doom anymore… in fact it was starting to turn into a smooth and somewhat velvety one now that he was talking more.

I watched as he slipped through my hands like grains of sand into the night.

please review! I love to hear what you think!


	11. Realizations

Chapter 10:

"Kizu?" my mother called as I opened the fridge.

I groaned inwardly, "Yes?"

"Come here a moment," she answered.

I trudged to her room, milk carton in tow. I opened the door and she patted a spot on the edge of her bed. I sat and calmly looked at her while there was major turmoil boiling inside of me.

"Who was that boy?" she asked.

"His name's Gaara, Mom." I answered.

"Gaara? What an odd name." She commented.

"Continue; you obviously called me in to yell at me. Get it over with." I said sighing.

"_Well_! I wish that you had told me that you had a boyfriend! I mean, I know you've always been private since your father passed away and-"

"Gaara is not my boyfriend." I corrected, "And this has nothing to do with Dad. Gaara, as far as I can tell, is a friend."

"Nothing more?"

"Nope."

"Oh…" she said, quieted by her incorrect suspicions.

An awkward silence followed.

"Can I go?" I asked.

"Sure!" she said, "G'night love!"

As I left the room I could have sworn I'd heard her say: "Though I think you'd make a cute couple." My mind was busy trying to sift through all of my mother's insinuations. Gaara and I? As a… _couple_? Yuck! What the hell was she smoking!

I chuckled and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over my head and ignoring my essay until the next morning.

**0o0**

I skipped school the next day; I mean I'd rather not have to deal with the consequences of missing the due date of an assignment. I just had a _terrible_ cold that forced me to go to the springs for the day to clean out my sinuses. What a convenient thing it was to be sick on the day my essay was due!

I smiled at my plan and walked out of the showers, bumping into someone. I turned to see Naruto.

"I'm sorry," I said brushing off my towel covering my bathing suit, "What're you doing here? I thought you were sick."

"Uh… I am! This ruddy cold, you see!" he said, using the same lame excuse I had.

I looked to were he had been seated, and (not to my surprise somehow) there was a peephole into the women's showers. Any approvals of his dreams of being hokage were immediately flushed out of my head. What a pervert!

"What were you _really_ doing?" I asked tapping my foot in irritation.

"Looking for you!" he said quickly, too much that I knew it was a lie.

I decided to play along, "Oh really?"

"Yup!"

"Well, you found me." I said, "Why were you looking anyway?"

"I-uh…- I heard you beat Sasuke."

"I didn't '_beat_' him, I blocked his attack." I corrected, trying to escape now.

"But still," he continued, genuinely interested, "what did you do? C'mon tell me! I want to beat him too! Believe it!"

"Nothing really… I just let Honoske do all the work." I shrugged.

"Honoske?" he asked.

I sighed; boys could be so slow sometimes! I pulled him behind a bush and he looked at me startled.

"You know the demon in you?" I asked, he nodded, "I have one too."

His jaw dropped. Classic Naruto.

"Yeah," I said looking down, "that was my mother's expression when she found out."

"M-mother?"

"Yeah, my mom."

"Umm… you've gotta be lying then, because if you have a demon in you… then your mother has to be dead."

"Nope. Why?"

"Well… when they seal the demon away, the mother gets killed in the process."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah," he said softly, "didn't you know?"

"I-I… I have to go." I said, blinking away the tears surging their way through.

I dashed back to the locker room and grabbed my things. I ran back to my house in a bathing suit and shorts, not caring as people saw the tears streaming down my cheeks.

**0o0**

I slammed the door to the apartment. Tears were staining my cheeks as I shouted my "mother's" name. Was it true? I had to know, I just had to.

"YURI!" I shouted.

My mother- was she really my mother? -stuck her head out of her room and looked at me blankly.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

My fists were clenched, and I was shaking, "Are you my mother? My _real_ mother?"

A look of pain crossed her face and she immediately slammed the door in my face, affirming my answer. I cut at it with knives, kicked at it, and pounded on it until my hands and feet were bloody and the door finally gave way.

"Are you?" I asked quietly.

She was praying in a corner. Her cheeks were covered with tears, just like mine. She turned to look at me, but couldn't meet my gaze.

"No… I'm your aunt." She whispered.

I was blown away, I had known, but I hadn't believed. It was true; my mother was dead… Anger filled me, nothing could stop the words that followed.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LIED TO ME MY ENTIRE LIFE! I HATE YOU!" I screamed.

She reached for me, but I recoiled from her touch and ran out the door after throwing on a shirt. I ran and ran, not knowing where I was going, or where I was going to end up.

'_**Kizu, I know that it must be hard for you, but-**'_ Honoske began.

'_You have no idea. Don't talk to me. I have to run, I have to escape all these lies. I don't want to talk, just run. Just run._'

I reached the entrance to a cemetery, but Honoske wouldn't enter, and forced me to carry a chain from my chest connecting us to let me run further. I didn't care; I just needed to go faster. The headstones went by in a blur as I approached a hill. I slowed to a walk as I climbed the steep slope, finally reaching two graves.

I saw them and fell to my knees, drawing them close and rocking. I'd found her… I'd found my mother… she was dead. I read it and indeed, she died the day of my birthday. I felt new tears work their way out of me, where had these come from? Surely I was done with crying, but still a new hurt was revealed as well…

It was like a sore in my heart. A red and sensitive sore that just widened and widened until I thought I would tear in half. It ached and I rocked back and forth, the tears flowing out of my eyes. Nothing could have prepared me for this truth… this horrific truth. Nothing.

I continued rocking, trying to process the emotions one at a time until I was settled. I was just lying there staring at the stone when I heard someone approach, causing me to tighten as a defense.

"Kizu?" a voice asked softly.

I recognized that voice, and felt my body relax. Someone I knew, Itachi. I released my self and sat up, wiping my eyes, trying to hide the innumerous tears I'd shed.

"Itachi!" I exclaimed, and tried to force a smile on my face.

"Stop it, you're not fooling anyone." He said to me and picked me up from the ground, setting me against a tree.

"I'm not, am I?"

"No." he said, helping me stand after a few minutes, "Look, I don't really understand what you're going through, but…"

"Itachi, what?" I asked sadly.

"I have some advice." He said, and I almost laughed, "Find someone you trust. Tell them everything, and they'll help you overcome this hurt. I am definitely not the one to tell because you don't know me, and therefore I know you don't trust me."

"It's not that I don't trust you," I yawned, following the chain from my chest back to Honoske, "I just don't like what you did."

"I can't help that, I can't change my past… but I want to change my future. I want to be a part of your family, I want to help you get over this, in due time though."

"You can be part of the family now… you're not such a bad guy I guess." I answered.

"Right now," he told me, "I want to get you home safely."

We reached Honoske.

"I'll take over," Honoske told Itachi.

Itachi shrugged and placed me on Honoske's back, letting me slip into a deep slumber to his rhythmic footsteps.


	12. Realizations Part 2

Chapter 11:

"Sorry I ran out." I muttered the next day.

"No, it's okay. I understand that, it was to be expected… I think." Yuri commented.

"I was just so _shaken_."

"Kizu, your real mother… she volunteered to have the demon sealed in you." She told me.

"What?"

"Yes, you see your father was killed while on a mission and she wanted to join him. Honoske, a rogue and sometimes-violent demon, was chosen to be sealed in you. Her wish was that you and your sister think of me as a mother and that you especially never become a main ninja like your father."

"So that's why I'm an alternative."

"Well… the one and only alternative. The hokage made a special ruling that you would not be able to achieve full ninja status, but that the term 'ninja' could be applied to you as a substitute."

"But why was Neji chosen?"

"I don't know. I don't know a lot of things, that's why you should ask the man who sealed Honoske in you." She said shrugging.

"Who's that?"

"Kakashi Hatake."

**0o0**

"Hello?" I called through a closed apartment door, "Is this the Hatake residence?"

"You have the right room, honey, but he's not here." An old lady informed me as I turned and slumped against the door.

"Where is he? I need to speak with him!"

"On the roof, like always." She said annoyed.

I thanked her despite her mood and found the stairwell leading up to the roof. I could hear Honoske's angry voice filling my head with loud noises and curses; so much that I tripped on the last two and sprawled out onto the roof at the feet of someone in a hammock.

I got to my feet and saw a man with silver hair sitting in the hammock with a derogatively named book perched on his chest. His face was calm and he didn't look up to acknowledge me when I dusted myself off. I glanced at the book again as he turned the page: Was he really reading that?

"Umm… are you Kakashi Hatake?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes?"

"It's not a question." I said, "Either you are or you're not."

"Okay then, I am."

"Good." I commented, "You probably don't remember me, but-"

"Kizumi, correct?" he asked getting up, sending more curses flashing through my mind.

"Y-yes." I stuttered.

He stretched, "You've probably just learned about the demon, huh?"

"Actually," I smiled, "I already know about Honoske. What I want to know is if you know anything about my mother."

"What's there to say? She made the best apple pie and she loved he husband very much." He shrugged.

"No on the night that you sealed Honoske in me, did she say anything?"

"Not much, just 'thank you' a lot. She told her final wishes to the hokage before she died. I was just in charge of sealing him in you."

"Oh…" I said, and turned to leave.

"You said you know about Honoske?"

"Yup."

"Well can he come out?" he asked.

Honoske muttered something to me like: '**_This is going to be painful._**'

I didn't realize what he meant until I was on the ground in convulsions. The pain cut right through me when he sent his chakra through me, creating a life-size image. I stared through my tears in shock and wonder as it moved around just like the real Honoske.

Kakashi didn't look phased by it.

"You've gotten old." He replied when Honoske finished growling.

"As have you." He snarled back.

The shaking was subsiding and I made it back onto my feet. I was dead center between the two of them, and Kakashi's hand was fingering his knife pouch. I suddenly felt like coming here had been a big mistake.

"How did the seal come to be so loose?" he asked.

"Ask her sister, Ishuzu did it. She was trying to perform a jitsu to contact their dead uncle, but she messed up on a hand sign this loosening the seal."

"So you knew I was adopted?" I exploded.

He looked down at me, "Of course I knew, I just decided to go along with your mother's ploy to keep your emotions in balance. Boys are so much more easy to be sealed in."

Tears were in my eyes again, "I thought you cared!"

"I cared, still do," he answered, "One because you're my host, and two because you eventually grew on me."

"A rather difficult task." Kakashi interrupted.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"To win the emotions of a demon requires talent." He answered.

"Or a knack for being such a blundering idiot as a child that I laughed until I cried." Honoske muttered.

"That too."

"But if you could leave at anytime, why didn't you?" I asked.

"Like I said," Honoske answered, "you grew on me; and I'll be _damned_ if this human seals me away again."

Kakashi chuckled, "You seem to be getting along well in Kizu, but I _will_ have to alert the hokage on the condition of the seal."

"The hokage is dying if you haven't noticed." I said, standing straighter.

"Never the less I will." He answered.

Kakashi nodded at me and exited from the roof to enter his apartment. I felt the wind pick up, and a chill went up my spine as I recalled what Honoske had told Kakashi: that my sister had loosened the seal.

"Can the ritual my sister did… can it be done again?" I asked shaking.

"Only by blood relatives, and I very much doubt that his brother and sister would be up to setting him free right now."

"Would Kakashi know how to do the other one? The release point one?" I asked hopeful.

"Possibly, if he's had enough experience with his sharingan he might know how… though it would kill him if he tried. That's why in order to perform it you have to have a demon inside of you."

"So how was my sister able to loosen the seal?"

"The seal was a small but effective one. I was put in you with a decent amount of chakra, but it eventually started to decay into an amount that your sister loosened even still. Now it's at an amount that I could break if I wanted, but that would kill you; and like I said: I like you."

"Okay, so how do I do the release jitsu?" I asked eager.

"Tomorrow, okay?"

"Please?"

"I swear that I'll show you tomorrow."

I nodded content, promises were things I knew Honoske made sparingly. He had never gone back on his word though, never.


End file.
